I am the carpenter king

The willow branches hang down, the breeze caresses gently, the river flows slowly, everything is quiet and serene.The drizzle fell gently on the river surface, splashing bursts of smoke, hazy and beautiful.

A wooden boat sailed through the rain and fog, and the old oars creaked and creaked, but it sounded like the sound of nature here.There is a person standing with his head on, a big bamboo hat on his head, and a coir raincoat on his body, with a calm face on the water.

The man had a calm expression on his face, but there was a trace of melancholy in his eyes, and he said lightly: "The spring breeze leans against the city of Helu, and the water country springs cold and cloudy again. The drizzle can't see the wet clothes, and the gossip falls silent. The grass is green and the love of thousands of miles in Hunan. If the host asks acquaintances, the green robes have already misunderstood Confucian scholars."

"Good poem, it really is a good poem. As expected of your lord, this poem really fits the occasion!" A robust Chinese character came up and said sincerely with a smile on his face.

"You! I ask you to read more books on weekdays, but I always use various reasons to prevaricate. This is an old poem, and this is a poem by Tang Dynasty poet Liu Changqing." Zhou Jiamo glanced at the man and said with a smile.

The man scratched his head, but he didn't look ashamed, and said with a simple smile: "This Liu Changqing's poem is excellent, and your lord's poem is also excellent!"

Ignoring the man, Zhou Jiamo looked at the smoky river surface with a bit of melancholy on his face, and murmured: "The boundless drizzle is as fine as sorrow!"

"My lord, what did you say?" The man didn't hear clearly, so he asked cautiously.

"I didn't say anything, how long will it take for us to arrive?" Zhou Jiamo waved his hand, they didn't understand what was on his mind, so naturally Zhou Jiamo would not do useless work.After thinking about it, ask yourself about your itinerary!

The man looked around, asked the guide again, and said respectfully after confirming, "Return to your lord. We will be able to reach Yangzhou in less than half a day. I don't know if we should send someone to know about Yangzhou." The magistrate? Or inform the official Ying Zhen?"

Shaking his head with a serious face, Zhou Jiamo exhorted: "The disaster relief matters in Yangzhou are quite heavy now, how can you bother me because of the old man's arrival? We can't find our way if no one greets us? Let's go into the city by ourselves!"

Seeing Zhou Jiamo's resoluteness, the man didn't say anything, and replied respectfully.Go to the back and sail the boat with people.

Half a day later, Zhou Jiamo and his party boarded the Yangzhou Wharf. Seeing boats coming and going at the Yangzhou Wharf, Zhou Jiamo nodded with a smile.It seems that this official did a good job in responding to the earthquake relief work. Many of those ships were grain ships, and the rest were salt ships or merchant ships.

A group of people stopped and walked, and walked slowly towards Yangzhou City. The more they walked, the more smiles on Zhou Jiamo's face.There were no beggars on both sides of the street, but a few soup kitchens were seen from a distance.Just walk to a small tea stall and sit down.Zhou Jiamo smiled and said to the people around him: "Sit down and rest, drink some tea!"

"Yes, my lord!" Several men replied respectfully, and then someone went to clear the table and greet the shopkeeper to serve tea.

Zhou Jiamo didn't pay attention to these, walked up to an old man, and said with a smile: "This old man, can I let this old man sit at the same table with you?"

"Look at what you said. The country people are not so particular. You are a rich man at first glance. As long as you don't dislike it, you can sit as you please!" In the mouth of the grandson, the old man continued: "I'm afraid you have something to ask?"

"How did the old man know?" These Zhou Jiamo were stunned. Could it be that this is a human being?I haven't spoken yet.He had already guessed his intention.

The old man picked up the big gray bowl in front of him and said with a smile: "The old man doesn't know how to meet each other. The old man guessed. You look like a foreigner, and you don't look like ordinary people. You must sit here with the old man. I have something to say!"

"The old man has sharp eyes. But I have something I want to ask the old man!" Zhou Jiamo nodded, which is human nature, so he stopped entangled in it and said with a smile.

"Look at what you said, what can you say!" The old man seemed to be very talkative, and said with a smile.

Looking around, Zhou Jiamo said in a deep voice: "Old man, I heard that Yangzhou was hit by a disaster, and I saw a lot of collapsed houses along the way. But I didn't see many refugees on the road. Where did the refugees go?" gone?"

"That's the wrong time for you to come here. Half a month ago, there were disaster victims everywhere here, and some people sold their sons and daughters. Don't talk about that miserable situation. It makes people sad to think about it." The old man said deeply. He sighed, his tone full of helplessness.

A trace of evil flashed in Zhou Jiamo's eyes, but he still smiled and said to the old man: "Old man, the government doesn't care about it? I heard that Zhang Qian, the magistrate of Yangzhou, is a good official!"

"Master Zhang! He is indeed a good official, but Mr. Zhang is too small to be useful! When the Yangzhou earthquake just happened, Mr. Zhang organized disaster relief, raised food everywhere, and opened porridge sheds. It can be said that although If you can't eat enough, you can't starve to death. You don't have to sell your children. There are injured people. Mr. Zhang said that all the doctors in the city have gathered in the east of the city. They don't need money to see the doctor and send medicines to the common people. Who doesn't talk about Mr. Zhang for a lifetime Well, that's really a good official!" The old man's face was full of emotion and resentment.

Hearing Zhang Qian's deeds, Zhou Jiamo nodded slowly, but thinking of the memorial, Zhou Jiamo looked at his mouth and asked again: "Old man, what happened afterwards? Why did he become a child and eat it?"

"Later, a businessman came to Yangzhou and sent people to the porridge shed to make trouble and sell high-priced grain, which caused disasters to the common people. However, Mr. Zhang acted faster and quickly arrested these people and took all their grain. It was withheld. At that time, those people were not convinced, but Mr. Zhang said that no matter who the grain belonged to, he would keep it for disaster relief now." With a sigh, the old man shook his head and sighed: "If you want to talk about this Mr. But this is a good officer."

Seeing that the old man had something to say, Zhou Jiamo took a large teapot, poured a bowl of tea for the old man, and signaled him to continue.

"I don't know who came forward later, and released all those profiteers, the food was also taken away, Mr. Zhang was also dismissed from office. The matter can be imagined, the doctor left, and the porridge shed could not continue to open. The common people have no food to eat, so they can only exchange children for food." The old man sighed, a look of sadness flashed across his face, and said: "In the eyes of these people, human life is really as cheap as a dog."

Snapped!Zhou Jiamo slapped the table vigorously, and said loudly: "The moths of the country, a group of rats!"

"You are always a scholar. The old man can't understand what you say. At the beginning, many people said that when this is too late to survive, they should attack Yangzhou City, grab the food and run away!" The old man didn't seem to take Zhou Jiamo as his The outsider said with a smile.

Zhou Jiamo wiped off his cold sweat. Fortunately, there was no White Lotus Sect involved, otherwise he would have rebelled.After thinking for a while, Zhou Jiamo said again: "I heard that the imperial court sent a disaster relief minister?"

"Yes! Yes!" Hearing the Minister of Disaster Relief, the old man regained his energy and said with a smile: "This official is amazing. It is said that he is a high-ranking official in the capital. He is a high-ranking official next to the emperor. It seems to be something University scholar, anyway, is a great official. This official is also a good official. On the first day he arrived in Yangzhou, the porridge shed was reopened, and the doctor came back after he left. The soldiers in Yangzhou also came out , build huts where the disaster victims gather, let people take a bath, and throw away the dirty things. Those profiteers who sell food and buy children have also been arrested, good official!"

Slowly nodded his head, Zhou Jiamo had expected this, Guan Yingzhen had always advertised himself as Zhang Juzheng, so it would be no problem to deal with such a matter.As if thinking of another thing, Zhou Jiamo said in a deep voice, "Old man, where are all these people now?"

"Go home, everyone has gone home! The imperial court distributed 20 days of rations to each household, and said that the rest of the food will be distributed at home. Old man, I am almost the last batch to leave, and everyone has gone home!" the old man said. With a smile, he glanced at a cloth bag beside him, obviously it contained his rations.

"Then you are not afraid that the government will not give you food at that time?" Zhou Jiamo was slightly taken aback, he did not expect to be able to deal with it like this.

The old man was a little annoyed at once, glared at Zhou Jiamo, and said, "Your words are not pleasant to listen to. At that time, the magistrate and the imperial envoy came together and finished the matter with us. Let's go back to that, what is that called rebuilding the homeland?" , is to go back to build a house and level the land. It is said that there are still many good officials in the world. The emperor already knows what is going on here, and no one dares to do things that are sorry. Sir Qincha also said that he will go to the places where food is distributed, who would dare Not giving food to the common people, in the words of that official, this is called the emperor's grace!"

Seeing the old man's smug look, Zhou Jiamo couldn't help laughing, and echoed: "Yes! The emperor's grace is mighty!" Looking at the sky, Zhou Jiamo said again: "It's almost time to rest, it's time to go on the road! "

"That's right! The old man is gone too, and he needs to level the land when he goes back! The government said to give the seeds, and we will have a good harvest in the coming year!" He said with his grandson, carrying the cloth bag with rations on his back, and leaning on a wooden stick, Staggered away.

Looking at the old man's back, Zhou Jiamo had an unusually serious expression on his face, and murmured: "The emperor's kindness is mighty, the Ming Dynasty produced a prosperous emperor, but you are here to discredit the emperor. Is this world really your own? Turning around and looking at his entourage, Zhou Jiamo said in a deep voice, "Go, enter the city!"

Zhou Jiamo entered Yangzhou City, fifty miles north of Nanjing City, a group of people dressed as businessmen were sitting on a high post.The leader held a sheepskin bag in his hand, took a sip of wine, and gently touched the knife at his waist.The moment he raised his head, he could see a resolute and angular face, it was Luo Sigong, the commander of Jin Yiwei! (To be continued..)